West Village insiders are buzzing about large banners that popped up this week on the scaffolding outside the Jane Hotel, saying: “San Vicente West Village — coming soon (ish).”
There has been buzz since Jeff Klein bought the Jane in 2022 that he’s opening an East Coast outpost of his LA members club, San Vicente Bungalows.
Says a source of the NYC version, “Like everything at San Vicente, the signs on the construction site are shrouded in secrecy. There is no website for San Vicente West Village, no Instagram and no way for ‘a normal person’ to apply — or even know what San Vicente is.”
We hear members are quietly encouraging Big Apple pals to apply to the original West Hollywood club, as they’d get access to New York’s as well if accepted.
Either way, we hear the NYC club should be open this fall. Chic English designer Rose Uniacke is reconfiguring the Jane space with a roof terrace and cafe in a turret overlooking the Hudson, a dining room in a former ballroom, a sushi bar, living rooms, event spaces, a screening room, two bars, nine bedrooms for members and a downstairs disco.
Manhattan isn’t Klein’s only expansion plan for the private club.
The Hollywood Reporter revealed a year ago that San Vicente Bungalows will open a Santa Monica outpost — where SVB Santa Monica is taking over the third floor and rooftop of a building with coveted ocean views.
The Jane — which was once upon a time the American Seamen’s Friend Society Sailors’ Home and Institute — was previously redone in 2008 by developers Sean MacPherson and Eric Goode.
The relaunch at the time gave the historic spot a chic upgrade and made it into a downtown party destination.
Klein — who is also behind the famed Sunset Tower in LA — told New York Magazine in 2022 of his San Vicente Bungalows plans, “Private clubs remind me of boutique hotels in the early ’90s when I started learning the industry.”
He added, “They’re serving a real purpose… The more connected we are with Instagram and texting and emailing, the more disconnected we’ve become as human beings. I think we crave a sense of community that is no longer really available because we’re so connected.”
San Vicente Bungalows in West Hollywood has been known to host bold-face names like Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, Jennifer Aniston, Leonardo DiCaprio, Miley Cyrus, Justin and Hailey Bieber, Elon Musk, Steven Spielberg, Jennifer Lopez, Sydney Sweeney, Zoe Kravitz, Jon Hamm and many more.